Freethinkers' Forum: Are some book bans justifiable?

Discussion prompt:
We're meeting during Banned Books Week (October 5–11) — a time when we celebrate the freedom to read and push back against censorship, especially when it targets books that address race, gender, sexuality, or other marginalized perspectives.

But what about books that we ourselves might find deeply harmful?
Books like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, The Turner Diaries, or The Anarchist Cookbook have been linked to real-world violence, terrorism, or hate. Other works, like Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or certain Dr. Seuss titles, are classics that many now view as containing racist tropes or language — leading to their removal from school curricula or, in some cases, their own publishers pulling them from circulation.

This raises a challenging question for humanists and progressives: Are some book bans justifiable?

Let’s discuss:

• Where should we draw the line between protecting free expression and limiting access to harmful ideas?

• Is there a difference between a government ban, a school removing a book from the curriculum, or a publisher choosing not to reprint a title?

• Should we support the removal of certain books — like racist or violent propaganda — in the name of social responsibility?

• How do we stay true to humanist values of reason, freedom of thought, and ethical responsibility when those values come into tension?

As humanists, we value intellectual freedom — but we also believe in using our freedom responsibly. So the question is: Should we ever say "this book shouldn’t be available," or just "this book should be challenged, critiqued, and put in context"?

Let’s explore these tensions honestly and thoughtfully.

You can bring dinner! We are allowed to have food and drink inside the community room at the library (we just can't have heat sources). Since we are meeting around dinner time, we invite people to bring take-out dinner or snacks.

***All participants are asked to familiarize themselves with and agree to follow our code of conduct.

About the group:
The Freethinkers' Forum is a monthly gathering facilitated by the Secular Humanist of the Lowcountry to discuss topics of interest to freethinkers, atheists, agnostics and other non-religious people. The purpose of these gatherings is to foster respectful dialogue of interesting and intellectually stimulating topics. The focus is discussion and so we will not have speakers. We may have brief presentations to introduce topics, but those will be restricted to 15 minutes or less. There may be optional readings or television or film recommendations to stimulate discussion.